Charities

Why Register as a Charity

You are able to give the pubic the assurnace of being accountable to the Charity Commission

Recognition of charitable status from the Inland Revenue for tax relief purposes. You will not normally have to pay income/corporation tax (in the case of some types of income), capital gains tax, stamp duty, and gifts to charities are free of inheritance tax

A lot of Charitable Foundations will only give to registered charities. You may be able to raise funds from the public, grant-making trusts and local government more easily than non-charitable bodies.

Automatic entitlement to rates relief (varies between the UK countries). You pay no more than 20% of normal business rates on the buildings which they use and occupy to further their charitable purposes.

Is Registering as a charity right for you? Why not have a look at our getting started pack to help you answer this question. Download it here

Setting up a charity

This guide explains what a charity is and how to set one up. Find out how to choose a name, decide how your charity will be set up and run and find trustees.

You must register your charity with us once its annual income is more than £5,000.

Before you set up a charity

You should first think about whether being a charity would stop you doing things you want to do. For example:

charity trustees are normally unpaid volunteers – they can only be paid with our approval in certain situations

charities can’t usually benefit anyone connected with the charity, for example giving work to a trustee’s family member or company

charities can only do things the law recognises as being charitable – they can’t do a mix of charitable and non-charitable work

charities can’t take part in certain political activities, such as campaigning for a change in government

registered charities must provide public, up-to-date information about their activities and finances

There are over 160,000 registered charities in England and Wales and many more unregistered charities with incomes under £5,000. Many small charities find it hard to get enough money for their cause. This is especially true for new charities because many people give to organisations they already know.

Setting up and running a charity takes a lot of work. If you haven’t yet recruited any trustees, you could think about joining forces with an existing charity instead. Use these services to find trustee and other volunteering opportunities in your area:

- See more at: http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/start-up-a-charity/setting-up-a-charity/about-charities/#sthash.9HULlI8E.dpuf

About charities

Charities exist to benefit the public, not specific individuals. Because of this, charities pay reduced business rates and receive tax breaks but are restricted in what they can do and how they work.

For example, charities need to:

follow charity law, including telling us and the public about their activities

only do things that are charitable according to the law

be run by trustees who do not usually personally benefit from the charity

You must register your charity with us once its annual income is more than £5,000.

Before you set up a charity

You should first think about whether being a charity would stop you doing things you want to do. For example:

charity trustees are normally unpaid volunteers – they can only be paid with our approval in certain situations

charities can’t usually benefit anyone connected with the charity, for example giving work to a trustee’s family member or company

charities can only do things the law recognises as being charitable – they can’t do a mix of charitable and non-charitable work

charities can’t take part in certain political activities, such as campaigning for a change in government

registered charities must provide public, up-to-date information about their activities and finances

There are over 160,000 registered charities in England and Wales and many more unregistered charities with incomes under £5,000. Many small charities find it hard to get enough money for their cause. This is especially true for new charities because many people give to organisations they already know.

Setting up and running a charity takes a lot of work. If you haven’t yet recruited any trustees, you could think about joining forces with an existing charity instead. Use these services to find trustee and other volunteering opportunities in your area:

- See more at: http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/start-up-a-charity/setting-up-a-charity/about-charities/#sthash.9HULlI8E.dpuf

About charities

Charities exist to benefit the public, not specific individuals. Because of this, charities pay reduced business rates and receive tax breaks but are restricted in what they can do and how they work.

For example, charities need to:

follow charity law, including telling us and the public about their activities

only do things that are charitable according to the law

be run by trustees who do not usually personally benefit from the charity

You must register your charity with us once its annual income is more than £5,000.

Before you set up a charity

You should first think about whether being a charity would stop you doing things you want to do. For example:

charity trustees are normally unpaid volunteers – they can only be paid with our approval in certain situations

charities can’t usually benefit anyone connected with the charity, for example giving work to a trustee’s family member or company

charities can only do things the law recognises as being charitable – they can’t do a mix of charitable and non-charitable work

charities can’t take part in certain political activities, such as campaigning for a change in government

registered charities must provide public, up-to-date information about their activities and finances

There are over 160,000 registered charities in England and Wales and many more unregistered charities with incomes under £5,000. Many small charities find it hard to get enough money for their cause. This is especially true for new charities because many people give to organisations they already know.

Setting up and running a charity takes a lot of work. If you haven’t yet recruited any trustees, you could think about joining forces with an existing charity instead. Use these services to find trustee and other volunteering opportunities in your area:

- See more at: http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/start-up-a-charity/setting-up-a-charity/about-charities/#sthash.9HULlI8E.dpuf

Charities exist to benefit the public, not specific individuals. Because of this, charities pay reduced business rates and receive tax breaks but are restricted in what they can do and how they work.

For example, charities need to:

follow charity law, including telling us and the public about their activities

only do things that are charitable according to the law

be run by trustees who do not usually personally benefit from the charity

You must register your charity with us once its annual income is more than £5,000.

Before you set up a charity

You should first think about whether being a charity would stop you doing things you want to do. For example:

charity trustees are normally unpaid volunteers – they can only be paid with our approval in certain situations

charities can’t usually benefit anyone connected with the charity, for example giving work to a trustee’s family member or company

charities can only do things the law recognises as being charitable – they can’t do a mix of charitable and non-charitable work

charities can’t take part in certain political activities, such as campaigning for a change in government

registered charities must provide public, up-to-date information about their activities and finances

There are over 160,000 registered charities in England and Wales and many more unregistered charities with incomes under £5,000. Many small charities find it hard to get enough money for their cause. This is especially true for new charities because many people give to organisations they already know.

Setting up and running a charity takes a lot of work. If you haven’t yet recruited any trustees, you could think about joining forces with an existing charity instead. Use these services to find trustee and other volunteering opportunities in your area:

- See more at: http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/start-up-a-charity/setting-up-a-charity/about-charities/#sthash.9HULlI8E.dpuf

Gift Aid is a way for charities or Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs) to increase the value of monetary gifts from UK taxpayers by claiming back the basic rate tax paid by the donor on the donation. It can increase the value of donations by a quarter at no extra cost to the donor. Gift Aid is worth nearly £1 billion a year to charities and their donors.

How Gift Aid works

Tax relief for charities

Gift Aid is an easy way to help your charity or CASC maximise the value of its donations. You can reclaim tax from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) on the 'gross' equivalent of donations, their value before tax was deducted at the basic rate, currently 20 per cent. You can work out the amount of tax you can reclaim by dividing the amount donated by four. This means that for every £1 donated, you can claim an extra 25 pence. For further details visit HMRC website - Click here

Volunteers

Volunteers are an integral part of West Berkshire's Voluntary and Community Sector

Volunteer Centre West Berkshire provides information, advice and guidance about voluntary opportunities in Newbury and across West Berkshire. In addition to our role as a volunteer recruitment agency for local organisations who need volunteer help, they also undertake direct services for the elderly and infirm.

committed to supporting, enabling and celebrating volunteering in all its diversity. Our work links policy, research, innovation, good practice and programme management in the involvement of volunteers. Volunteering England's Information Service produces a range of information sheets which you can access in PDF format.